“Oh God,” muttered Liam, jerking his head almost imperceptibly toward the other side of the room. “Incoming.”
Max swiveled in time to see Tim, senior partner, and Bradley, the owner of this place and Max and Liam’s client, zero in on them. “Well, better now than when you’re all drunk,” Max said, making Chloe grin.
“Liam!” Tim exclaimed, budging his way into the circle and clapping Liam’s shoulder, even though he had to reach up to do it. He pushed his glasses back on his nose and smiled benignly around the circle. “I was just telling Bradley here what an excellent job I think you’ve been doing.” After muttering something to a nearby waiter with a tray full of glasses, Bradley stepped up, smiling on cue. Max knew full well not to be conned by that smile—Bradley was as sharp as they came, and seemed to have unerring focus on anything he dabbled in, despite the number of ideas he seemed to throw up. It was probably why he was still ripped, even though he was mid-sixties.
“Yes, yes,” Bradley said, nodding to Tim as if indulging a small child. “I’ve been impressed by the work that Max and Liam have done so far, but let’s see how it all looks when it’s done, hey?” He gave the general circle a wink and they all smiled back obediently. Max wouldn’t actually be at the company to see the final block of fancy “bespoke” apartments, but he was under explicit instructions not to mention that he was leaving, in case that caused any uproar.
“But yes,” Bradley continued, taking a glass of champagne that the waiter brought up to him, “I’m glad you could all make it. I wanted all my people to see the kind of vibe I have in here, gives you a better sense of the type of thing I go for, you know.” He took a sip of his champagne, not so much as blinking at the use of “my people.” Max arranged his face into something he thought indicated sage agreement, though he saw Chloe’s eyebrows shoot up, and hoped she wouldn’t say anything.
“It looks like a marvelous set-up,” Liam said, gesturing around, to which Tim and Bradley just nodded.
“Yes, I think so, but it all depends on whether it can turn a profit, doesn’t it?” Bradley looked away for a moment, scanning the room—presumably for someone more interesting or important. While his back was turned, Max mouthed “marvelous” to Liam, with raised eyebrows, and Liam shrugged a little helplessly. “Ah, here’s my PR man,” Bradley continued. He waved someone over, then turned back to them, slightly blocking Tim from the circle as he did so. “I wanted to get everyone in the same room, you know. It’s good for business, isn’t it? Always good to make connections, to celebrate the successes with the people that made them so.”
“Exactly right,” Tim said, nodding like Bradley had said something profound.
Bradley carried on as if Tim hadn’t spoken. “And Ollie here is actually doing the PR for this venue. Ollie!”
The man was already walking over to them, but doubled his pace at Bradley’s shout, an action that was more noticeable because he was slightly shorter than average.
Ollie came into the circle, shook hands all around. His brown eyes lingered on Max for a moment. Max knew this guy, he was sure of it. It was the pixieish quality that he remembered, all sharp chin and slightly pointy ears. Josie’s ex. An uncomfortable sensation brewed in his stomach, and he took a sip of his drink to try to quench it. Every now and then, Oliver’s gaze flickered toward Max, in a way that suggested he recognized him too. Max realized he must be staring too hard when he noticed Erin looking up at him curiously, and tried to straighten out his features.
“Are you here alone then, Ollie? No colleagues along with you?” Bradley asked, clicking a hand in the air to someone at the same time. Again, Chloe wrinkled her nose, but said nothing.
“The others wanted to get in an early night, what with it being a Monday and all, so it’s just me, I’m afraid.” Oliver raised his hands in a way that was clearly supposed to indicate apology, then took one of those hands up to smooth his already overly styled hair.
“No, no need to apologize,” said Bradley, taking a second glass of champagne from a tray that the waiter brought along and handing it to Oliver, who was apparently the only one in the circle who would be offered one. Liam shot Max a questioning look. So, his scowl had returned then. He gave a big shoulder roll, told himself to stop being ridiculous. He barely even remembered the guy, and hadn’t given him a second thought since he’d met him. But he did remember thinking he was a dick at the time, and that thought seemed to have intensified now. Not helped by the fact that Bradley was just fawning over him—a couple of unintelligent, puffed-up peacocks.